Cipla in no hurry to launch semaglutide as Yurpeak gains traction

Drugmaker Cipla is in no hurry to launch generic semaglutide in India as its tirzepatide brand Yurpeak continues to gain traction in the country's fast-growing GLP-1 obesity market, although it will re-evaluate the opportunity if needed, managing director and global CEO Achin Gupta said.

Cipla's Yurpeak has emerged as one of the fastest-growing products in the GLP-1 category since its launch. The company has marketing rights for Eli Lilly's patented tirzepatide, sold under the Mounjaro brand.

“Yurpeak has been growing steadily for us,” Gupta said in response to an ET query. “This has now become the second largest in terms of the entire category of GLP-1s. So, the traction is good there.”


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He said the company may not need to introduce semaglutide in India if demand for Yurpeak continues to grow.

Data from PharmaTrac showed Yurpeak's sales nearly doubled to about Rs 28 crore at the end of June from Rs 14.4 crore in March despite the launch of lower-priced generic versions of rival molecule semaglutide by Indian drugmakers and a steep price cut by innovator Novo Nordisk. Semaglutide's patent expired at the end of March, triggering a wave of generic launches.

“With respect to our semaglutide strategy, I think for India, it is a wait-and-watch. And if tirzepatide does well for us, then we may not look at semaglutide. But we will re-evaluate that,” Gupta said.

He added that Cipla would continue to pursue semaglutide opportunities in international markets in line with patent expiries and regulatory timelines.

According to PharmaTrac, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro remained the highest-selling GLP-1 injectable in June with sales of Rs 102 crore, followed by Yurpeak at Rs 28 crore. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic recorded sales of Rs 12 crore and Rs 11 crore, respectively, after cutting prices by more than 40% after semaglutide's patent expiry in April.

Gupta said tirzepatide's acceptance among doctors, coupled with Cipla's extensive distribution network beyond the metros, gives the company an edge as competition in obesity therapies intensifies.

Earlier in an exclusive interaction with ET, Gupta had said: “In this category, the amount of intervention required is significantly higher. It involves patient onboarding, disease management and field-force engagement. We felt it was better not to dilute our efforts.”

He said that “tirzepatide is a dual-receptor product, we see it as a bigger opportunity. At the same time, many generic players are entering semaglutide, and prices are already dropping sharply. We are clearly playing in the best-in-class segment rather than the mass market.”